Fatal
Journey
by Jack Gieck "Monster!" That's the word people in Klamath Falls,
Oregon, used to describe Jesse Pratt. The would-be macho trucker
and sometime pimp was so threatening, even his own mother was
terrified of him. Obsessed with his secretary, Carrie Love,
20, Pratt alternately charmed and stalked her. When she resisted
he forced her to accompany him on a business trip, where he
raped her, then stabbed her to death. To hide her identity,
he ran over her body with his tractor/trailer. The provided
forensic scientists with enough evidence to put him on death
row. Using meticulous analysis, gathering the tiniest of clues,
a top team of detectives put together a case against Pratt.
The Man Who Sold Out
School District 12 -- Before
Kenneth
W. Drummond came to dominate the District 12 board which comprises
22 schools, more than a thousand employees, 17,117 students, and
a $76 million budget he established a history of corruption in the
nonprofit realm. The Harlem born Drummond, 49, became bolder. Like
his ally, Bronx kingpin Ramon S. Velez, whose inefficient poverty
programs made him a wealthy man, Drummond used political savvy to
prey on the poorest of the poor.
"Deviancy
training" within adolescent friendships increases delinquency,
substance use, violence, and adult maladjustment. Peer-group interventions
increase adolescent problem behavior and negative life outcomes
in adulthood.
"Kids
don't get 'worse' from one generation to the next. We are so
concerned with things like self-esteem training that we are disempowering
them by not teaching them what they need to know. The
Atlantic Online
Everyone
agrees helping kids is commendable. But when all the scandal
of Covenant House dies down, the overwhelming problems of children
reared in poverty will remain. So will the question of accountability.
In the '80s America embraced Covenant House as the one stop shopping
of youth services, a feel good solution, temporary and superficial,
that seemed as genuine as the man who marketed it.
Criminalizing
Youth -- 3/4 of the youth who are incarcerated are black, Hispanic
and children of color. A black teenager is 6 times more likely to
be incarcerated for a first time violent offense than a white teenager.
A black teenager is 48 times more likely to do time for a drug offense
than a white teenager.
Teen
Violence Is Poverty Violence in Disguise -- Experts identified
a 1990s demographic scapegoat for America's violent crime: our own
kids. Mike Males, author of The Scapegoat Generation:
America's War on Adolescents
Crime
Reports Misrepresent Violence -- Few individuals have contributed
more to the inflammatory and systematic misportrayal of teenage
crime in American than Rolling Stone magazine's contributing editor,
Randall Sullivan. Mike Males, author of Framing Youth:
Ten Myths About the Next Generation
Children
and the news -- Seeing and hearing about natural disasters,
catastrophic events, and crime reports, may cause children to experience
stress, anxiety, and fears. The American Academy
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Growing
Up Scared -- Crime terrorizes the weakest and most vulnerable
among us. - The Atlantic Monthly
Cherishing
kids while neglecting them -- James Baldwin observed 1/3 of
a century ago, "Children have never been very good at listening
to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them."
Dialing
For Dollars -- Nuri Ayers, principal of Sickles High School
in Tampa, Florida, smelled smoke in the building. Within 10 minutes,
Ayers had her culprit.
Home
Sweet School -- The average home schooler's SAT score is 1100,
80 points higher than the average score for the general population
Searching
for a Safer Path -- Anger management is included in the curriculum
in the alternative school program because they have been suspended
or kicked out of their own high schools. Their only other choice
for is dropping out. Education Week
The
Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander: Breaking the Cycle of Violence
by Barbara Coloroso A book parents and teachers use to deal with
bullying, an aspect of school the author feels "is a life-and-death
issue that we ignore at our children's peril." With the assumption
"bullying is a learned behavior," Coloroso (Parenting
Through Crisis) explains not only the ways that the bully,
the bullied and the bystander are "three characters in a tragic
play" but how "the scripts can be rewritten, new roles created,
the plot changed." For each of the three "characters," she defines
each role, analyzes the ways each character can change behaviors,
and suggests methods parents and educators can use to identify
bullying and deal with it effectively. The book provides insights
into behaviors related to but not always recognized as bullying,
such as cliques, hazing, taunting and sexual bullying. This volume's
best section is on the "bystander," the person whose behavior
is often excused. Coloroso's emphasis is on aikido-related defensive
skills when physical force is necessary to stop a bully. An important
look at how bullied children can affirm their dignity and self-worth.
Civility
Policies Surfacing in Schools -- Washington State introduces
civility codes to provide ground rules for communication among teachers,
parents and students. Education World
The
bullying epidemic - What every parent must know to keep a child
safe. Ladies Home Journal
Style
Wars (1983) Some call it tagging, some call it writing,
still others call it bombing--it's all graffiti, but it's undeniably
illegal. Style Wars tracks the rise and fall of subway graffiti
in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At the peak of
its popularity, graffiti was as much a part of B-boy culture as
rapping, scratching, and breaking. The filmmakers present a well-rounded
portrait of their subject through extensive interviews with taggers--notably
Seen, Kase, and Dondi--art collectors, transit authorities, and
even Mayor Ed Koch, who eventually put the hammer down. Along
the way, they documented breakdance scene, with a focus on the
world-famous Rock Steady Crew. The soundtrack features selections
from Grandmaster Flash, the Treacherous Three, and other tagger-approved
icons of old-school hip-hop.
The
Angry Child: Regaining Control When Your Child Is Out of Control
by Timothy Murphy, Loriann Hoff Oberlin
When
a child's anger threatens to jeopardize school and social life and
introduces strain into the family dynamics, it's time for a parent
to ask: When is angry too angry? Child psychologist Dr. Tim
Murphy has addressed this very question with both the causes and
the repercussions of childhood anger and to devise effective strategies
for defusing the time bomb. Whether it's a toddler tantrum, a grade-schooler
unable to make friends, or a preteen who greets every adult request
with antagonism, parents of angry children are baffled by the depth
and the root of their child's unhappiness. With simple, techniques,
it is possible to help an angry child develop new approaches for
coping with explosive situations. Identifying the ten characteristics
of an angry child, Murphy provides examples to guide children to
more appropriate responses. Murphy alerts readers to parenting styles
that work best for volatile children, explaining how a parent's
behavior can escalate a child's meltdowns. He pinpoints when anger
moves from a normal emotional expression to an extreme one, indicative
of a larger problem. Murphy offers advice on situations in which
an angry child's temper is most likely to flare. Dr. Murphy offers
answers and hope for the families and educators of unhappy children
of all ages.
Bullies
Are a Pain in the Brain
by Trevor Romain (Illustrator), Elizabeth Verdick (Editor)
Every child needs to know how to cope with bullies,
this book blends humor with serious, practical suggestions that
will help kids understand, avoid and stand up to bullies while preserving
their own self-esteem. Illustrations Ages 8-13.
